Abstract
Abstract Since the discovery in 1991, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have shown to exhibit unique electron field emission property. CNTs have rapidly caught a lot of attention to be new field emitters for room temperature field emission displays (FEDs). We have synthesized vertically aligned CNTs on various substrates by thermal CVD (850℃) method. The purpose of this study is to search for easy and feasible methods by using metal phthalocyanine as both metal and carbon sources for the growth of vertically aligned CNTs. The as-grown well-aligned CNTs are decorated by various chemical modifications, then their field emission properties are examined. The experimental results reveal that opened or sharpened CNTs exhibit lower turn-on voltage than the raw material above 30%. Furthermore, the emission current density of CNTs is mainly determined by the outmost graphene layer of multi-walled CNTs. The energy consumption of the fabricated FEDs can be decreased and the light emitting efficiency could be enhanced by O2 or O3 oxidation of carbon nanotubes. Carbon tubules are demonstrated to be grown via thermal CVD on appropriate catalysts at low temperature (450℃). These carbon tubules also exhibit unique field emission properties, as compared to regular CNTs. Our low temperature process makes it possible to grow vertically aligned carbon field emitters on sodalime substrates without softening. By the incorporation of nitrogen, the electric conductivity and the electron field emission property of the carbon tubules is greatly enhanced and able to apply in more applications.